Headlines

Avalanche come home to host Oilers

by
Deborah Francisco
/ NHL.com

OILERS (4-2-1) at AVALANCHE (3-4-0)

TV: SNET-West, ALTITUDE

Season series: It's the second meeting between these Northwest Division rivals this week. The Oilers won 4-1 in the first meeting of the 2012-13 season on Monday. They will play each other a total of five times this season.

Big story: Colorado opens a four-game homestand by hosting the Northwest Division-leading Oilers. Having met once already this week, both teams have an idea what to expect. The Oilers won Monday's game despite being outshot 24-6 by Colorado in the third period.

Team Scope:

Oilers: Edmonton concludes a three-game road trip on Saturday. The Oilers lost in a shootout in San Jose on Thursday after overcoming an early 2-0 deficit. The Oilers comeback point was important to the momentum of their road trip.

"I liked our compete level," forward Jordan Eberle told EdmontonOilers.com. “We came back against them and it was great. The characteristic of our team this year is we've been able to come from behind. But at the same time, we have to play with the lead. We have a tough team coming up."

Avalanche: Colorado is coming off a big 6-3 win at Calgary on Thursday night in which three different players scored twice. Center Paul Stastny, who had notched only one assist on the season going into Thursday’s contest, scored both his goals in the final three minutes.

"Sometimes you've just got to keep battling back and find a way," Stastny told the Denver Post. "Sometimes you've just got to find a way to get an ugly goal and that's what I got there on that first one."

Who's hot: The young guns in Edmonton are continuing to find the back of the net led by Taylor Hall who boasts a team-best 9 points (2G-7A) and has a point in every game so far this season … PA Parenteau leads Colorado in goal-scoring this season with five in seven games including a pair on Thursday night.

Injury report: The Oilers’ Shawn Horcoff missed Thursday’s game with a strained neck and his condition is day-to-day. Ben Eager is on IR (concussion) … Colorado will need to find more offense from its role players because two of its top forwards are sidelined with injuries -- captain Gabriel Landeskog was officially placed on IR Friday and is out indefinitely, while David Jones is out with a knee injury.